On the busiest shopping day of the year, when millions of people are out and about trying to acquire MORE stuff, dealing with more stress and more traffic, perhaps we should take a moment to stop, breathe and give something away. A wonderful and wise friend of mine shared a quote with me today from Lao Tzu that says,

We often measure our success by the amount of money that we earn or in the things that we gain. Perhaps today would be a good day to make a shift out of that mind set. Maybe today you can try to measure (if you even need to keep track) your success by how much you give away. There are so many ways to give, especially this time of year. Lots of organizations such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, and Purple Heart gladly accept used household items. Wayne Dyer speaks of the 80/20 rule that suggests we only seem to use about 20% of what we own. That means that 80% of the stuff we have doesn’t really get used. I just found a colander in my cupboard this morning that I haven’t even touched in 2 years. 2 years! Yikes! To think all that time someone else might have needed it and put it to good use. Take a few minutes to scan through your stuff. Is there anything that you could give up? Anything that would definitely serve someone else better? If you haven’t used it in years it’s probably time to let it go.

Material goods are not the only thing that you can give away. You can give blood, give your time or even give a smile. It’s ok to think small. Send someone a text or better yet GIVE them your attention. It’s not only good for you but good for the world. Check out a previous Ethos blog about the benefits of giving here.

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” -Winston S. Churchill